NEW DELHI: Union minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan on Sunday accused the Congress and RJD of spreading a “misleading narrative” around government schemes, including MGNREGA and its replacement, VB-G RAM G, and said such protests would ultimately help the NDA electorally, including in West Bengal.Addressing reporters, Paswan said, “Parties like Congress and RJD have been doing politics of instigating fear among the people by weaving a misleading narrative around laws and schemes like CAA, NRC, Mukhyamantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana, and VB-G RAM G,” reported PTI.He alleged that the opposition was sensationalising the renaming of MGNREGA by invoking Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy, and said the NDA was open to debating the merits of the new scheme rather than its name. “They even challenge a ‘crucial and regular’ exercise like special intensive revision of electoral rolls,” he said, adding that “people of Bihar have answered their vote chori allegations through a democratic process.”Paswan claimed the opposition’s protests would backfire politically. “Just like they helped us win Bihar by creating a ruckus around SIR, they will assist us in clinching West Bengal and Assam by trying to make an issue out of VB-G RAM G,” he said. Defending the VB-G RAM G act, the Union minister said it symbolised “collective responsibility on the lines of federal structure” and rejected claims that it imposed an unfair financial burden on states. “Congress and RJD claim that the VB-G RAM G Act has placed an extra burden on states… Little do they realise that this has been done to ensure collective responsibility on the lines of the federal structure of the country,” he said.Paswan argued that the absence of such collective responsibility was a key reason behind MGNREGA’s failure, claiming states lacked a sense of ownership. He said VB-G RAM G had increased the number of working days, shifted focus from “earth digging” to infrastructure projects, and improved monitoring to plug loopholes.Taking a swipe at the Congress, he said, “Why are they worried about the burden on states? In how many states do they have a government anyway?” He added that the NDA would form “double-engine governments” in remaining states, including West Bengal and in the south.He also alleged that the Congress was uneasy because the Modi government had dismantled a scheme “they devised for carrying out corruption,” claiming MGNREGA had become a “den of corruption” benefiting middlemen rather than the poor.
